BOISE, Idaho (AP) —
The Latest on a Utah shooting and Idaho manhunt (all times local):
6:10 p.m.
A California man wanted in the fatal shooting of a motorist on a desolate stretch of interstate highway near the Utah-Idaho border has been charged with aggravated murder.
Online Utah court records show prosecutors filed the charges Thursday afternoon against 45-year-old Jonathan Llana in the killing Wednesday night of 50-year-old Dennis Gwyther of Salt Lake City. The charging documents accuse Llana of firing multiple rounds at a vehicle driven by Gwyther. The passenger in the car was also injured.
Llana was also charged with one count of attempted aggravated murder. He is from Los Angeles.
Authorities were still searching for Llana in southern Idaho near a small town. They warned people that he is armed and dangerous.
Utah State Bureau of Investigation Lt. Ryan Van Fleet says Gwyther and the passenger were traveling in a Range Rover from Salt Lake City to Boise, Idaho, for work.
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1:10 p.m.
A southern Idaho sheriff is warning residents near a manhunt for a shooting suspect to keep their doors locked and be wary of strangers.
State and local law enforcement officers were still searching Cassia County early Thursday afternoon for 45-year-old Jonathan Llana, whom they consider a suspect in the shooting death of a Salt Lake City man.
Sheriff Jay Heward told The Times-News newspaper in Twin Falls that there are scattered homes in the area of the manhunt. He says residents should avoid picking up anyone seeking a ride, lock up their homes and report any missing vehicles to law enforcement.
The Idaho State Police says Llana is considered armed and dangerous, though Heward says it’s not clear if the suspect still has a weapon in his possession.
Law enforcement officials say the Wednesday night shooting on Interstate 84 in northern Utah killed Dennis Gwyther of Salt Lake City and injured a passenger.
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12:25 p.m.
Authorities say a driver fatally shot on a northern Utah highway was a Salt Lake City man and that the suspect who is the subject of a manhunt in southern Idaho is a California man who is the registered owner of a car later found crashed after a pursuit.
Lt. Ryan Van Fleet of the Utah State Bureau of Investigation said authorities know of no motive for the Wednesday night shooting of Dennis Gwyther on Interstate 84 or any connection between him and the suspect, 45-year-old Jonathan Llana of Los Angeles.
Van Fleet said Gwyther and a passenger who was shot and wounded were driving to Boise, Idaho, for work when the shooting occurred after both vehicles cleared a slowdown in traffic.
Idaho troopers spotted and chased the car determined to be registered to Llana but officials say the driver fled on foot after it crashed. Authorities then launched a manhunt that continued Thursday.
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8:30 a.m.
A search was underway Thursday in southern Idaho for a man suspected of shooting and killing a motorist on a Utah highway, Idaho State Police said in a statement.
Authorities were searching for Jonathan Llana, 45, near the small city of Burley and described him as armed and dangerous, the statement said.
The shooting happened Wednesday night on a desolate northern Utah stretch of Interstate 84 called Rattlesnake Pass, the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a statement.
A person who was a passenger in a Range Rover called 911 about 10 p.m. to report the driver had been shot by a person driving a silver Volkswagen Jetta, the statement said.
A motorist who is an emergency medical technician stopped on the highway to help the occupants of the Range Rover and confirmed that the driver died, the statement said. The passenger was injured and taken to a hospital. Authorities did not identify the victims or say how the injured passenger was hurt.
A vehicle matching the description of the Jetta was spotted a short time later in southern Idaho, authorities said. Police tried to stop it but the driver took off and eventually crashed the vehicle into a canal in southern Idaho along Interstate 86.
The driver ran away and authorities were still searching for him Thursday, with a helicopter assisting.
Authorities did not disclose a possible motive for the shooting.
Llana was described as being 5’10” (1.8 meters) tall, weighing about 150 pounds (68 kilograms) and with black hair and brown eyes.
